


The Strange Rotation

by Immerghensi



Category: ONEUS (Band)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:35:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21656131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Immerghensi/pseuds/Immerghensi
Summary: Working under RBW is great except that there's some idiot in upper management who seems to think having six guys share a room is a good idea.In short, it isn't, and Youngjo corralling them into the kitchen with a sniffly Keonhee in tow can only mean one thing."Manager Jihoon is taking him to the doctor tomorrow," he announces, "but for now, I'm invoking the Strange Rotation."
Relationships: Kim Youngjo | Ravn/Yeo Hwanwoong
Comments: 11
Kudos: 246





	The Strange Rotation

**Author's Note:**

> Ravn is so sweet with Woongie and I've been on a sleepy cuddles streak for a while

Working under RBW is great. There's an artistic freedom that comes with working for a company that only has three other groups, all of which belong to different entertainment categories. Oneus can produce their own music, create dynamic choreography, and influence decisions regarding their promotions. Working under RBW is great....

...and some _idiot_ in upper management seems to think having six guys share a room is a good idea. 

To abridge a twenty-paragraph essay with an executive summary and three addendums, it isn't. 

"Oh god..." Hwanwoong groans as he's unceremoniously awoken from his mid-afternoon nap and thrown into the kitchen, stumbling straight into a confused Lee Seoho, earbud dangling from one ear. Corralling the less-than-pleased Geonhak and grumpy Dongju, book in hand, inbetween the island and the sink, Youngjo looks a bit like a superhero with his hands on his hips and his chest sort of puffed out, but the messy bird's nest on his head and the bags under his eyes make him look more like a crazed psychopath than anything. He gets an A for effort, but that's as generous as Hwanwoong gets.

He leaves again to fetch Keonhee who, Hwanwoong can now see, is red-eyed and holding a box of tissues. 

This can only mean one thing. 

"Manager Jihoon is going to take him to the doctor tomorrow," Youngjo announces, "but for now, I'm invoking the Strange Rotation." 

No one groans, but there are a number of resigned sighs and deep inhales. 

The Strange Rotation was something they'd come up with early on; after they realized Geonhak was a snorer but before Seoho could come up with Foolproof Murder Plan #5. Originally, it was called the Bedroom Shuffle, but their CEO's eyebrows had done a meet n' greet with his hairline so they decided to come up with a slightly better name. 

  
It wasn't that complicated- members would each pick a different place to sleep until whatever the reason was for invoking in the first place had passed. There were a couple basic rules to stop them from getting hurt or fighting, but beyond that, anywhere was fair game. 

Hwanwoong, for once, was grateful to be so small. It meant he could fit into places that were off-limits to all other members simply due to their inability to fit in them. The sliding door to the closet created a little nook he could keep all to himself without worrying about someone tripping over him in the middle of the night and thus waking everyone else up. 

  
The other members were creatures of habit as well. Youngjo usually slept in the studio on a fold-up futon left specifically for situations like this. It was small- approximately Hwanwoong-sized- but it did the job and it didn't matter how much his feet hung off over the edge when he was sleeping like a log. 

Keonhee took the tub once. (He's a reason they have Rule 12.) Apparently in his sleepiness he'd forgotten that humans need to go to the bathroom and humans also need light to see what they're doing, and this resulted in Keonhee seeing way more than he ever needed to and Seoho using his beautiful vocal chords to scream so loudly that everyone else woke up. Ever since then, he'd taken the Quiet Room- the one with a computer wired to the wall meant for study that everyone used for everything under the sun except that. 

Being the loudest sleeper, Geonhak was usually exiled outside on the balcony, weather permitting, or in the living room. He was one of those people who liked to spread out when he slept so it was a good thing he was alone out there. 

Dongju usually stayed in the bedroom with Seoho, who, despite looking like a squirrel, slept like a mouse. They would push the bunks together to create two superbunks and relish in the increased bedspace. The fact that Keonhee was going to be quarantined in the bedroom threw a wrench in things, but there were too many schedules and practices and meetings to cram into their last few hours of daylight to worry about it now. 

The Rotation could wait until later.

++

"There's a strange--? Oh right." 

The new choreography is going to a pain and a half to teach the others, and the number of extra minutes it takes for Hwanwoong to learn it once through directly correlates to the number of hours it'll take to impart that knowledge upon the rest of his group. He's back late- way later than anyone else- and the only reason Geonhak is awake is because Hwanwoong tripped over him.

"Rule 3." He chides.

"Go to sleep." Geonhak rumbles back in his deep, deep voice.

Hwanwoong hobbles away on aching feet. "I'll see you tomorrow."

It's already tomorrow, technically, but if he starts being all nit-picky about it, he's going to make himself feel worse. Doing a speedrun through his skincare routine, he snags his pillow and blanket from where they've been waiting atop the washing machine and settles into the closet. Hwanwoong slides the door closed and lets the exhaustion catch up to him. 

When he comes to in his dream, it feels like he'd just been distracted for a moment, not quite remembering how he got there but having some sort of 'memory' to explain the inconsistencies away. He's sitting under a willow tree on a picnic blanket by the lake, the one that he said they didn't have enough time at when they were in America. Keonhee is being chased by Dongju, the maknae yelling something about biting his hyung, and Seoho is doing absolutely nothing to stop their shennanigans. The others went off to get something, his brain reasons, and he basks in the warm glow of summer sun. 

But then everything goes grey and monochrome. A thick blanket of clouds steals the sunlight and the sky becomes dark with rain and Youngjo is yelling something, yelling at him to run. The others are gone- where? Where? He sees the moving form of Geonhak sprinting up a far hill and Dongju running in the opposite direction towards the woods. Seoho is nowhere to be seen. Hwanwoong can sense whatever it is they're running from, whatever danger they're running from, creeping up behind him about to snatch him up. Youngjo yells at him again to go, that there isn't enough time, and it feels like he's flying over fields and fields of muted yellow, straw-like grass. The wind throws him this way and that but it's getting hotter and hotter as he runs, alone now, away. 

  
He runs and runs and something grabs him and heaves him into the air. 

Helpless, the heat is suffocating him, wrapped in tightening coils, and there's no escape. Where is the sky? Where are the others? He's thrashing against the darkness. He yells no words, only panicked cries, as he tries to push the hot claws off in a desperate attempt to get away. He pushes and pushes and--

Hwanwoong falls out of the closet. 

He scrambles away until he hits a wall, breath still coming in shallow, panicked pants. 

_Look left, look right_

It's just the dorm. Same as it's always been. He can even hear Geonhak snoring in the living room and see Seoho's nightlight on in the office. Hwanwoong stands up and grabs his blanket from the chasm of the closet. His steps are only soft pats on the hardwood trailing off to the studio where he knocks twice and opens the door a sliver. He can see an arm and a knee and a foot sticking out over the edge. Their eldest was sleeping so soundly... was it really necessary to wake him up?

Hwanwoong bites his lip, thinks over the other possible options, and reasons that he probably won't get to sleep any other way. 

"Youngjo-hyung. _Psst_ , hyung." 

"Hm?" Youngjo takes a sharp inhale to orient himself. He can't see a thing, but he does his best to figure out who it is in his doorway, "Oh, Woongie, hey." 

"Can I sleep with you?"

He's a little confused, wondering for a beat if he heard him right, but when Youngjo realizes he's 100% serious, he unravels himself and lifts a corner of the covers. "Yeah, no problem." 

In all 21 of his years on the planet, Hwanwoong is pretty sure he's never moved that fast in his life. He darts under the comforter still wrapped in his own blanket, ducking his head into his eldest hyung's chest as if he were a kid and that would protect him from the monster under the bed. 

"You ok?" He can feel Youngjo rubbing soothing circles into his back, and the motion makes him loosen; slip into a more relaxed state. 

"Yeah... just a nightmare." 

Instead of a response, Youngjo shuffles onto his side and pulls Hwanwoong close. 

Without the lingering paranoia, the drowsiness is already returning to him. Hwanwoong tucks his head into the space below Youngjo's. 

"Thanks, hyung."

"Anything for you, Woongie."

++

Hwanwoong wakes up, briefly, at some ungodly hour before 9. The blinds are turned the wrong way so the sun is shining in his eyes. He considers getting up, but it's so warm and comfy in bed, especailly with the arm draped over him. Grumbling, he rolls over and nestles himself into Youngjo. 

The morning can wait. 

++

"Doctor says I'm gonna be contagious for at least two more days..." Keonhee sniffles. The normally chipper exterior has been replaced by a dropping face, a body struggling to do the simplest of things like breathe and eat. Seoho takes him away like the designated parent he is to make sure he follows the doctor's orders to the T, leaving the rest of them to go about their day. 

"Dibs on the office tonight!" Dongju runs off to throw his blanket into the room to solidfy his claim. 

"Hey, no fair!" Geonhak runs after him. 

When they walk away, Hwanwoong waits until the very last moment before Youngjo closes the door to the studio to pop the question. He jitters like he's doing something wrong, or like he's admitting some terrible secret, but he gathers his courage and asks, "Can I.... Can I sleep with you again?"

His eyes scrunch up as though that would make him feel less nervous, but when he doesn't hear a 'no', he looks up to check if Youngjo is still there. 

Which is he is, a little surprised, but smiling. 

"I would like that very much." 

In the distance, Keonhee lets out a gargantuan sneeze, and he can hear the muffled sound of Seoho going into caretaker mode.   
Maybe another night on the Rotation wouldn't be so bad. 


End file.
